MISSOULA – Thirty land managers from countries such as Kenya, Uganda, India, Brazil and Zimbabwe will arrive in Montana on Thursday, July 18, for the 14th annual International Seminar on Protected Area Management.

ISPAM is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs and the University of Montana. UM Professor Wayne Freimund and Professor Emeritus Steve McCool are co-directors.

The seminar helps midcareer planners and managers of nationally significant protected areas worldwide learn more about policies and management. They will learn about integrated planning, community involvement, tourism and concessions and climate change by visiting with national park and forest officials and university researchers. Participants will represent various agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, forest departments and ministries, national parks and reserves, and academia.

This year, participants first meet with national Forest Service leaders in Washington, D.C., to get an overview of land management in the U.S. They then travel to Glacier National Park and the Flathead National Forest to learn about management of a transboundary international park adjacent to national forest.

In Missoula, participants will meet with Mayor John Engen to talk about the role local politics play in conservation. They also will tour the Hayes easement in Evaro with Five Valleys Land Trust and then spend several days at the Magruder Ranger Station in the Bitterroot National Forest. In addition, participants also will spend several days in West Yellowstone meeting with Gallatin National Forest managers, business owners, tourism operators and Yellowstone National Park officials.

International Programs of the U.S. Forest Service helps to sponsor participation in ISPAM. It works with international partners to promote sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation.

Note to Media: Participants will be in Kalispell and Glacier National Park July 18-22. They will be in Missoula July 24 for a morning meeting with Mayor Engen, an afternoon tour of the Hayes-Evaro Easement and an evening banquet at Shadows Keep. They will return to Missoula Aug. 1-3 to develop action plans for issues in their own countries based on what they learn during the seminar.